The Bourne Identity star returned to Harvard University on Thursday to accept the 2013 Harvard Arts Medal—20 years after dropping out to pursue what would ultimately be a mega-successful Hollywood career.

And he took time out to speak to undergraduates not only about what Beantown means to him especially in the wake of last week's bombings, but also why he decided to renew his wedding vows with wife Luciana a couple of weeks ago in a star-studded ceremony on the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia.

"It's nice to say your vows in front of family," People quoted the 42-year-old actor as saying. "That's the point of taking the vows. These are people who will hold you to them. One of my vows was I gave her the side of the bed closer to the bathroom. And if I don't stick to that, I'm gonna hear from my mom, brother and father."

Damon told the audience during a Q&A with award presenter John Lithgow, who also went to Harvard, that the pair had planned to get hitched over the Christmas holiday in 2005. However they opted for quickie nuptials at City Hall so they didn't have to worry about intrusions from the prying eyes of the paparazzi and media.

"We thought our whole holiday break was going [to] get ruined with people hanging around, with helicopters and all that stuff," added the thesp. "So we literally ran to the city and just tied the knot really quickly, just to kind of nip that whole thing in the bud."

Damon also reminisced about his days growing up not far from Harvard's campus in Cambridge's Central Square and how he's coping following the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.

"Particularly right now, it's good to be back in Boston," added the Oscar winner. "I went to school where the youngest bomber went to school, and was just talking about all the happy memories I had there…I certainly am still in shock, and I'm trying to figure out what this all means and how it could happen."

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